


Shampoo, and Other Mystical Treasures

by thatsrightdollface



Category: InuYasha - A Feudal Fairy Tale
Genre: F/M, Fluff and Angst, I'm new here in these Inuyasha-y parts, Kagome washes his hair, Shampoo - Freeform, don't mind me, happy birthday Inuyasha!!!, if it is in fact his birthday, this is very silly
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-01
Updated: 2020-04-01
Packaged: 2021-02-28 23:55:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,805
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23435776
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thatsrightdollface/pseuds/thatsrightdollface
Summary: Inuyasha’s gotten lots of weird gifts from the future, lately.  You could say he’s becoming kind of an expert.
Relationships: Higurashi Kagome/InuYasha, InuYasha & Shippou (InuYasha)
Comments: 18
Kudos: 100





	Shampoo, and Other Mystical Treasures

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Jericho_Pryce](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jericho_Pryce/gifts).



> Hi there! I hope you enjoy this fic, if you read it. This is my first-ever contribution to the Inuyasha fandom, though it was one of the first anime I ever saw and it’s really kinda funny it took me so long to try rewatching it ahahaha.... let’s say this takes place around episode 30 - 40, cause I’m around there in my slow, slow journey revisiting the series. :p I’m sorry for anything and everything I might’ve gotten wrong, here. I wrote this ‘cause the internet told me April 1 was Inuyasha’s birthday, and whether or not that’s true I was happy we might have pretty close birthdays! Didn’t wanna miss my chance, pffft. Also, how come I didn’t remember how funny Shippo is? It turns out Shippo is really funny. 
> 
> Anyway, I hope you’re staying safe and having a nice day!!! :D I gifted this to Jericho_Pryce 'cause we're watching through the show together and he's great!!!

It was easy for Inuyasha to forget how different Kagome’s other home — (the idea of saying “real” home felt a little like burning his tongue, lately) — was from the Warring States era, sometimes. That was what she called the time he was from, of course: he was a dog hanyou from the “Warring States” era, apparently, and she was a human from impossibly far away. Inuyasha had known that to start with. Obviously. One of the first things he’d noticed about her was the sharp metallic smell she carried around, which had turned out to be a stain left by future skies burned grey and chemicals with names too long for even Kagome to pronounce. Well, that and the fact that underneath it all, Kagome both looked and smelled a hell of a lot like —

It didn’t matter. We’re talking about the future, aren’t we? The future smelled toxic, compared to the clear air of the Warring States era. Inuyasha had been traveling with Kagome for so long, by now... he could fall asleep in seconds, with his head resting against her back on that mysterious “bicycle” contraption she was so fond of. He’d gotten used to the way she smelled in his time, with sun in her hair and campfire smoke clinging to her clothes. Leftover cooking-meat smells from a kill he’d brought back for her himself; river water; blood he’d watched that hunter Sango help her carefully clean out of her shirt. It felt _wrong_ when Kagome came back smelling like she belonged to someplace completely different. Someplace impossibly far away, and full of stuff Inuyasha didn’t expect to ever completely understand. 

At first, he’d sort of taken it for granted that this distance was supposed to stand between them. He was supposed to feel an eerie sharpness in the air when he got too close to her. But he _didn’t_ feel that distance, sometimes, and then he did. It was hard to put into words. Inuyasha didn’t really trust his own voice, to be honest with you. That voice was a snarling, barking thing, when he wanted Kagome to listen to the way he stood close to her instead. Listen to the way he quieted down in an argument when she grabbed his sleeve. Listen to the way his ears twitched around to hear her better whenever she said his name, even when he was sleeping. (The kitsune kid Shippo had teased him about that last thing, so he knew he did it even if he couldn’t exactly remember.) You know? If Inuyasha had tried to say any of that out-loud, it wouldn’t come out right, though. Of course. Pain in the ass. 

One time, Shippo asked Kagome if she’d ever had to answer questions about the Warring States era on those cryptic and terrifying “exams” she talked about so much, and Kagome had said, “Oh yeah, actually! Traveling around with you all is really good research for stuff like that.”

And even though Shippo had chirped back, “Hehe, can’t beat firsthand experience, can you?” Inuyasha felt his stomach sinking. He was something from one of those textbooks Kagome dragged around with her, kinda. Everyday things from his time, like the way people wore their hair or built their houses or whatever... Kagome felt far away from stuff like that, didn’t she? It wasn’t her “real” world. This was the most like “home,” like a “pack,” Inuyasha had felt since he was a child. Staying by Kagome’s side, and falling asleep knowing another member of their little party was staying up to keep watch so’s she’d be safe. But Kagome had another home completely outside of him, and always would: that nebulous, sour-smelling future. Maybe she expected to wind up there, once this whole “Chase Naraku, Hunt Down Jewel Shards” chapter of her life finally ended. Maybe Inuyasha had been right trying to send her back there early, so she could miss out on all this danger and stay alive, at least, even if it meant he wouldn’t recognize the smell of her at all if they ever met again. 

It didn’t matter that Inuyasha couldn’t understand everything about the future — he couldn’t understand everything about his own time, either. But he didn’t like feeling as if Kagome was close and then suddenly she wasn’t. He didn’t like those days where he roamed the woods around that crumbly time-travel-y well and knew she was ages away... knew he could call for her and she wouldn’t hear him, even if he screamed his throat raw. 

Inuyasha was getting used to it. Getting used to caring, that is, like getting used to the feeling of fur sticking up on edge all along your back. (Not that Inuyasha could feel _that_ the way his instincts told him he was supposed to, as a hanyou... but that was a whole separate problem.) He told himself this was just the way things had to be, with Kagome standing between time periods like he stood between Yokai and human. It wasn’t anybody’s fault, and enough time had passed by now that at least he trusted she’d want to come back to him. Back to her real — no. Back to her home here with him, whether or not it was her “real” home when all was said and done. Words were such slippery things. Inuyasha wasn’t sure he’d ever be able to say what he actually meant. 

But Kagome brought back strange gifts for their whole group, when she disappeared to spend a little time in her other home. She came back smelling like smoggy air and distant electricity, yeah, but she also carried bags of supplies with her, because she’d thought about them all while she was away. 

Kagome brought candy and toys her little human brother recommended for Shippo, and canned tea in various flavors for Miroku the monk... she brought catnip for Kirara, and boots with something called “really good arch support” for Sango. She brought everybody snacks that could travel well, too — bags of beef jerky, chips and pocky, all that. She didn’t seem to want Inuyasha to eat chocolate... said it was bad for dogs, for some reason, even if it was also delicious... so she’d stopped bringing any of that back once she remembered What He Was. (And _that_ didn’t make him feel like a spoilsport or the odd one out again at all, I’ll tell you what.) Kagome didn’t buy anything with grapes in it, either — that “bad for dogs!” thing again. But she also said that in the future, women gave guys they liked chocolate on something called “Valentine’s Day.” Maybe she just didn’t want Inuyasha getting the wrong idea about her, or something. Maybe you gave grapes to someone you liked, too. It was hard to say. Inuyasha didn’t get any of that stuff, though, and he wasn’t actually sure when this “Valentine’s Day” festival was supposed to be. 

Kagome did bring back certain things specifically for him, though — lots of red drinks with names like “Wild Raspberry Power Blast,” because they reminded her of his clothes... packs of instant noodles that she’d remembered him liking, and shampoos that didn’t burn his nose with chemical smells so he wouldn’t have to pretend the smell of her hair wasn’t making him dizzy. That really did mean something, knowing Kagome had weighed junk food brands against one another for him, trying to pick something he’d want. Even though, sure, yeah, she did the same thing for everybody... Kagome was just giving like that. Didn’t mean it couldn’t mean something. Didn’t mean Inuyasha wouldn’t discreetly peek through whatever bags she brought back, nowadays, hoping there was something for him specifically. Some sign that Kagome could be in her other home... that time she belonged to, her “real” world... and still be thinking about the pack she’d formed with him. 

Sometimes Inuyasha caught himself hoping Kagome wasn’t bringing human guys chocolate during the Valentine’s Day festival, even if they _were_ allowed to eat it. Sometimes Inuyasha found himself internally gloating because she’d brought him back the most presents out of everybody, though that could easily be a coincidence and he knew better than to get his hopes up. Didn’t he?

That day, though, when Kagome finally made her way back from the future, Inuyasha wasn’t exactly ready to go meet her. He had been swallowed by an enormous boar Yokai and carved his way out from its guts only just moments before, see. He came back to Kaede’s temple shaking internal organ glop off his sleeves, and blinking blood out of his eyes. It was... not his best look. When Kagome noticed him, she actually screamed. _There_ was a point for whatever human guys she might be sweet on, sad to say. 

“Not my blood!” Inuyasha barked. “Calm down, Kagome! I’m not gonna try to hug you like this or nothing, so you can relax.”

“Inuyasha ran out of town yelling at something in the woods,” Shippo confided to Kagome. The little fox was perched hanging off her shoulder — must’ve been glad to have her back. “We figured he needed to blow off some steam.”

Kagome might have smelled like “cars” and “bullet trains” and “grocery stores,” but nobody needed to tell Inuyasha what the inside of a boar Yokai smelled like, even to a human nose. “I got us back another shard of the jewel, is all,” he grumbled. Ducking away a little. Why did Shippo talk about him like he was the child, times like this? “No need to thank me. I’ll just go jump in the river or something, and then I’ll be good as new.” A guilty glance back over his shoulder, after taking a couple steps away. “Be right back, Kagome.”

Welcome home. Inuyasha had meant to say “welcome home.” Stupid!

Kagome was waiting for him when he slunk back into town, though, holding one of those elixirs she liked. Shampoo. He knew this flavor, too, even just looking at the bottle — it was one of the kinds he actually sort of liked. Hadn’t made him gag once. “Wintertime Vanilla Sugar Cookie,” the stuff was called. Kagome held Inuyasha by the sleeve and led him back to Kaede’s hut. Of course he followed, hair hanging heavy and wet down his back behind him. Soggy footsteps. You know.

“I have something special for you today,” Kagome said. “But before I give it to you, do you mind if we wash some of that mess out of your hair properly? I’ve wanted to do this for a long time, you know.”

Inuyasha didn’t mind. His pulse was racing, and his guts were all tangled up inside him, and he took a little offense at the word “properly,” there — ‘cause he knew damn well how to clean himself off in a stream, thank you! He wasn’t a helpless puppy, y’know — but he _didn’t mind_. He let Kagome lead him back around the back of Kaede’s hut, where she’d set up a couple buckets of water and a fluffy red towel from her time period. When Kagome asked him to rub sticky shampoo slime into his hair, well, holy shit. Inuyasha found himself actually doing it. Kagome smoothed some dripping bubbles off his forehead, too, so nothing would get in his eyes. Her fingertips against his face — Inuyasha didn’t trust himself to say anything, faced with her hands in his hair, guiding him over to those buckets of water. Asking him to lean way, way back and close his eyes. Thanking him for going along with this. She’d shown everybody in their little party how to use helpful modern things like bandaids and antibacterial hand sanitizer, but Inuyasha’d been the only hold-out. 

“I’m honestly kinda excited to see what your hair looks like when it’s washed like this,” Kagome laughed. “Now hold still! We’re almost done.”

“Yeah, yeah,” Inuyasha grumbled. He wondered if Kagome noticed the way he jumped when she massaged her fingers against his scalp a little bit, working shampoo in around his ears. He hoped not. If she said anything about shampoo actually not being good for dogs, he was gonna scream. “Let’s get this over with.” 

Inuyasha’s hair was pretty smooth and gleaming after that elixir treatment, honestly, once it dried. Kagome threw that fluffy red towel over his head and dried it a little bit that way, but the rest figured itself out how Inuyasha knew best, just waiting things out in the sun. He sat talking with Kagome the whole time, listening to what had happened to her off in her other home, and which classes she was afraid of failing, and what new embarrassing illnesses her grandfather was telling everybody she had. He told her that he might have gone after the boar Yokai a little bit differently, earlier, if he’d known she was coming back that day, and Kagome snickered. Said, “Aw, but this was a good opportunity to try shampoo out on you! Sorry I screamed, really — I thought you were hurt —”

“I know,” Inuyasha said. “I made you worry for nothing. That was dumb of me.”

Kagome combed out Inuyasha’s hair before she gave him his present, picking away tangles he hadn’t even realized were there. He held still, even when he got fidgety. He listened to her stories, and asked important questions like, “Wait, wait, wait. Can’t you just _not take math_ next year? Why’s it so damn important?” Even though she still smelled like the future, Kagome was close to him, now. Back with him. She was gentle, working her way from the ends of his hair up to his ears, and he could feel her breath on the back of his neck, sometimes. He could see their shadows shifting together on the ground beside them, not so different after all. 

By the time Kagome was finished, Inuyasha smelled a little more like she did herself, didn’t he? Like “Wintertime Vanilla Sugar Cookie” slime, for better or for worse. Inuyasha studied the label — it had a dreamlike blend of sparkly snowflakes and weird crumbly circles on it — and asked Kagome what exactly a Wintertime Vanilla Sugar Cookie actually was. 

“It’s a kind of dessert. But funny you should mention that,” Kagome said. She stood, and offered Inuyasha a hand up, too. His fingers were so sharp and wicked looking, next to hers. He could cut her open just by grabbing her hand wrong. But Inuyasha folded his claws around Kagome’s hand anyway, as well as he could, and she dragged him to his feet. “I brought you some sugar cookies today, because they don’t have chocolate, or raisins. I think you’ll like them, anyway. I tried to make some of them into little dog faces, and one’s supposed to look like the Tessaiga... that turned out to be a really big cookie, actually. Maybe you can offer to split it with Shippo, or something.”

“Uh-huh,” Inuyasha said. “I mean, thanks. Dog cookies sound... thanks.” What was she trying to tell him, here? What the hell was going on? 

“It’s too late for Valentine’s Day, I know,” Kagome said. “I didn’t think of it in time, and I didn’t want to make you sick, or anything...”

“Uh,” Inuyasha said, very eloquently. “Valentine’s Day? Isn’t that for people you —?” He cut off. Shook his head. He shouldn’t ruin this, even if “ruining conversations with Kagome” was becoming almost as much of a specialty of his as “knowing weird, pointless trivia about the future.” But there Inuyasha went, still talking. “But really now, we don’t _know_ chocolate would make me sick. Maybe I’d be fine!”

“We can try for Valentine’s Day again next year,” Kagome said. It was like a promise — like even if they somehow managed to gather up all the Shikon Jewel shards and kick Naraku’s creepy ass that very year, she’d still be back. She’d still want to give part of her _home_ to him. “Myoga told me you were born sometime in the spring. Maybe we can say this one’s for your birthday, instead?” 

Damn that Myoga. But... Inuyasha _had_ been born in the spring, probably. The old flea generally knew his stuff. And Inuyasha had been wondering what a Wintertime Vanilla Sugar Cookie was for a while. Another arcane treasure, smuggled back from a future he wasn’t supposed to see. Bringing his time and Kagome’s just a little bit closer together. 

“Thank you,” Inuyasha said, more carefully than usual. Watching Kagome’s face. Her ears didn’t twitch to show him she was annoyed, and so much of her body language still didn’t make a lot of sense to him, but he was working on it. “And, uh you know, welcome home.”

There. Said it. 

Now, let’s go see what the hell kind of cookie the Tessaiga turned out to be. 


End file.
